


Lover, Hunter, Friend and Enemy

by Theincrediblesulkmachine



Category: The Originals (TV)
Genre: Angst, Drabble, F/M, Gen, Hayley-centric, S05E06, Spoilers, Tribute, What Will I Have Left, You guys know what this is about
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-16 16:54:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14815226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theincrediblesulkmachine/pseuds/Theincrediblesulkmachine
Summary: It's time to leave, the clouds are hanging low; The truth begins to show.(You will always be every one of these)





	Lover, Hunter, Friend and Enemy

**Author's Note:**

> If you haven't yet seen the latest episode, {i.e: s05e06} turn away now; only sorrow awaits below.
> 
> If you have, welcome to the grief.
> 
> Here's my tribute to strong Hayley Marshall, fierce Hayley Mikaelson. To all she fought through, to all she protected, to her life and to her death.
> 
> Title and summary from Fleurie- Love and War

In a flash that Hayley would have been able to keep up with- had the essence of who she was not been halved and confined- the woman threatening the very existence of her daughter had her pinned against the wall, hand bruising on her bone-dry throat as she gasped for air.

And by the _moon_ , the she-vamp was strong, running on the toxic fumes of bloody revenge and hatred; Hayley struggled and kicked, and thrashed but the way Greta kept her choking seemed effortless.

Inside, Hayley felt the void where her wolf spirit had always burned- fire and heat; the flames of family and loyalty.

Inside, Hayley felt empty; helplessly trapped in more ways than one.

The door slammed open, and Klaus was there, eyes agleam in vengeful glory; but her lips had barely shaped his name, when he fell, stake tearing through flesh, muscle and ribs alike; the cry that rent the air spoke of pain from more than just the wooden lance. The idea that the brother- the one who had been so fiercely, defensively _his_ \- would put the stake there in a way that felt so final, made the indomitable Klaus Mikaelson fall to his knees.

And there he stood; silhouetted in the burning light of day, chiaroscuro painting the sharp angles of Elijah’s face.

For one fleeting moment, relief flooded Hayley, as she said his name; it was a prayer, it was gratitude, and it was _love;_ she felt defended, she felt _saved_.

And he who would never have turned his back on _his,_ as long as breath filled his undying body- he… _he_ looked at her as if surprised she knew his name.

As if Elijah had never known her, as if he had never protected her from every single _god-damned_ thing including himself. As if he had never held her like she was the sole thing keeping him from drowning.

Like he hadn’t been hers.

And fuck it all, Hayley had never needed either protecting _or_ saving, but it had always been given so freely; seeing it taken away by indifference _hurt_.

Almost as much as the very real stake that Elijah twisted in his once-brother’s heart.

More so than the fingers ripping into her heart, clenching around it.

Klaus crumpled to the floor, a marionette with his strings cut, and Hayley’s heart shattered.

Elijah turned from her like she was nothing, and went to the strange vampire boy like he was the recipient of their _always-and-forever_ ’s _._

Hayley’s relief curdled, and she too turned away.

_She wasn’t saved._

_She wouldn’t be saved._

She didn’t have much time.

 _Hope_.

Hayley looked to Klaus, somehow hanging on despite the lance impaling him; there was desperation in his strength-less, shaking limbs; he would fight and fight and _fight_ for his family. Hayley _had been_ that to him, and he _had_ fought for her. She took that second to mourn the truth of Klaus Mikaelson in all his complexity, and loved him for it.

_Hope._

Hope would need that.

 _Hope_.

She looked at her daughter and marveled; the beautiful strength, the grace; the obstinacy. Hayley admired and grieved and she loved and loved and _loved;_ truer than anything else Hayley had ever felt.

_There was no time._

She did not look to Elijah.

Hayley kept her eyes on her beautiful girl’s face, on Hope with _hope,_ and let her curdled relief bypass resignation into resolve.

 _Hope_.

As her vision darkened, as her chest began to hurt, she closed her eyes and thought of life; she felt the air on her skin, twined with the cruel spears in her heart, around her throat; she smelt the _anger, fear, desperation_ in the air, all overlaid with the pervasive scent of blood; hers and _theirs_. She tasted the bitter fear, and grief of loss on her tongue; she heard the feeble stuttering of her heart, and Klaus’s, fighting their own battles in tandem for all that they were isolated.

United we stand, divided we fall.

They were _falling_.

She heard Hope’s heart; slow and steady.

She clung to it; a lifeline.

 _Hope_.

Hayley smiled, and it was bitter and it was vicious.

It was a Mikaelson smile.

Hayley looked her killer in the face for the first time, and let her face fall free of emotion, let herself float independent of sensation.

There was no _saving_ Hayley Marshall _,_ and she’d be damned if _Hayley_ _Mikaelson_ didn’t take this bitch down with her.

She took the fingers in her heart, the hand around her throat, and ripped; unminding of the pain, she flung herself into her doom like it was her salvation.

And it _was_.

There was no pain greater than that of leaving her daughter, but she would protect her little Hope.

As she burned, she wished she couldn’t hear Klaus screaming her name.

As she burned, she wished she couldn’t hear that Elijah hadn’t.

_Always and forever._

As she burned, as she felt herself being unmade, she thought of only one thing.

 _Hope_.

**Author's Note:**

> (Hayley was one of my all time favourite characters, and i honestly sobbed through every second of that last scene... and what a powerful scene it was.)
> 
> Rest in Peace, Mama Wolf;  
> Tear 'em all to shreds, Hope;  
> Don't you leave Hope alone, Klaus.
> 
> Burn Elijah at the stake; StupidfknBastard.
> 
> Come scream at me on tumblr [@theincrediblesulkmachine](http://theincrediblesulkmachine.tumblr.com) about Hayley or Klaus or The Originals in general.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
